Universal Pictures have forked out a huge seven figure sum to acquire the rights to Daniel Silva’s seven book series of spy novels with the sixth book in the series, strangely the first to be adapted. The sixth book as will the movie, is titled The Messenger.
Pierre Morel has been hired to direct the picture says Variety. He has just completed working on the ‘my daughter is kidnapped, I must chase the globe to find her, thriller’ starring Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace which should be released in the first or second quarter of 2008.
The Silva series began in 2000 with “The Kill Artist,” and revolves around Gabriel Allon. A Mossad agent who was part of the covert team that avenged the murder of Israeli athletes at Munich Olympics, Allon retired and became an art restorer after his wife and child were killed by a terrorist.
More on the plot of The Messenger from a reviewer on Amazon…
The Messenger opens in London where a professor of Middle Eastern studies is suspected of having Al-Qaeda ties. The Israeli Secret Service is on his tail when he is killed in an accident. The laptop he was carrying proves that not only was he a recruiter, but that he also was involved in an intricate plot against the Vatican.
Israeli agent Gabriel Allon is once again sent out into the field, trying to avert a tragedy in Rome. At the same time, the agency decides to find the source of terrorist funding through Saudi sources. The Israelis and the CIA concoct an intricate plot to discover the location of a Saudi terrorist financier. The plot involves a beautiful American art curator and an unknown Van Gogh painting.
The timing on this move seems to make sense. This week, potentially the last movie in the Bourne series will be released (certainly the last with Matt Damon) and that’s been a big earner for Universal, so they are looking to fill their ‘spy’ gap with this new set of books.
By the way that Bourne movie is getting some great reviews and is the movie you’ve just voted for as your most anticapted movie of this month. I wasn’t a fan of the last movie, mainly because of Paul Greengrass’ shaky camera work but maybe I’ll give it another shot.
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7 Comments
This book sounds an awful lot like The DaVinci Code. and the beautiful femme’s these stories always shove down the audience’s throats…enough!
That’s why I love Michael Crichton’s stuff so much, at least all his books up until Rising Sun, after that all his stuff started to suck ass.
And why this series? There are a lot of other espionage books out there with more action and better plotting they could have chosen.
And Paul Greengrass did a spectacular job with the Bourne Supremacy, Doug Liman did a purely SH*TTY job with the first one -Bourne Identity was slow, confusing, incoherent and unsatisfying. Bourne Supremacy was the exact opposite and was the reason James Bond had to step up his game with Casino Royale -it was Supremacy, not Identity. If Paramount wants to know how to get the Jack Ryan franchise back on track, a good start would be by examining the Greengrass’s portrayal of Bourne.
And I don’t know where this “shaky cam” gripe comes from. Michael Bay does it for two and a half hours and he’s hailed as an awesome filmmaker. Greengrass does it for a couple of scenes and there’s been a non-stop chorus of bitching and complaining ever since. I didn’t notice or remember and shaky cam stuff, I was too busy enjoying a kick-ass story that was being VERY well told.
Michael Bay is far from an awesome film-maker. You will never here that sentence from me! lol.
“Shaky camera syndrome” – The thing is that Michael Bay’s shaky camera still enables you to SEE what is going on, where as in Supremacy – those fights scenes were god-awful at times. When I can’t see a punch being thrown because the director is convulsing, frothing at the mouth, and apparently dying behind the camera is when the movie stops being fun and starts being annoying for me.
Michael Bay – he’s far from a great director. He makes fun movies and for some reason, I’ll continue to watch his movies. Why? Because, I normally have a blast with his films. Are there problems with his films? Hell yes. Lots at times. But, it’s about the fun for me. If it amuses me – I’m good with his stuff.
Spy stuff – Splinter Cell anyone? How about we kick it up a notch and go with Rainbow Six but from the terrorist point of view? That would be one helluva spy movie. R6 is trying to chase down a multiple cell group but they can only find a single 2 man cell. You follow the story of those 2 men as the weave their ways of deceit to the people surrounding them and so on.
Hell, that is a more solid script in that paragraph than most of the stuff released this year. :\
A Splinter Cell movie could be great fun.
Regarding “sounding a lot like DaVinci Code”, Silva’s novels are of a different species altogether. That argument falls flat especially considering that the Allon series began with “The Kill Artist”, 5 books prior.
Having read the entire series I hope that they can adapt as true to the novel as possible and finding an actor to portry Gabriel Allon will prove to be an equal, if not greater task than using Damon in the Bourne series.
For those doubters, give the Silva series a try starting with “The Kill Artist” and you won’t be disappointed.
I found Moscow Rules at a yard sale and am now hooked on Daniel Silva’s Spy novels. I am now reading them in their order written. I’m reading, “The Confessor” now. Just can’t put them down. They are very well written, great research, informative, to a point, that I have to further investigate the history on the subject. Can’t wait till the movies come out. Guarantee, I’ll be one of the first to see them. Daniel, keep them coming……..
Hey Smack, this series is nothing like the DaVinci Code, and Crichton couldn’t carry Silva’s word processor. Don’t talk about something you have no clue about.